In the days that followed, Fly's campus life seemed to return to a state of calm.

  The Student Council did not come looking for trouble, at least for the time being. Every day, aside from attending classes, Fly would stay in his Inner Realm, cultivating and improving his strength.

  After receiving the financial support from 'Emperor' Valerius, Fly had much more economic breathing room. He went to the school's martial arts store, bought new Skill Cards, and learned new Skills.

  His strength was consolidated, and his days were peaceful and fulfilling.

  He was now filled with confidence for the upcoming Freshman Invitational.

  ...

  A week later, the Dean of the freshman year, Dean Sterling, came to the door of Class Two. "Fly, could you come out for a moment?"

  "Yes, sir."

  Fly replied, standing up from his seat. After giving a quick nod to his instructor, he followed Dean Sterling out of the classroom.

  "Fly's busy again..." Watching Fly's departing figure, Leo's heart was filled with envy.

  Fly followed Dean Sterling out into the hallway, where Genevieve was already waiting.

  Fly glanced back at his classmates who were still in class and asked curiously, "Does the Freshman Invitational happen while classes are still in session?"

  In his mind, an event like the Freshman Invitational should be like a sports festival from his past life.

  Students should be free to move around, watch the matches, and cheer for their school's competitors.

  But he hadn't expected...

  The school wasn't giving a holiday for the event, nor were they organizing students to go and cheer.

  "About that..." Dean Sterling pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. "The competitors in this event are all the top prodigies from their respective schools. And in a competition, there are always winners and losers. For the losing side, it's always a bit... hard on their pride."

  Furthermore, the Freshman Invitational wasn't just about individual honor; it was tied to the school's reputation. If it were held on campus and the home school performed poorly, wouldn't that just be a public execution?

  Therefore, to protect the dignity of all the participating schools, the Freshman Invitational was typically held at the municipal stadium in the city center.

  "Actually, in the past, our Star City High did host the Freshman Invitational," Dean Sterling continued. "After all, we are the number one key high school in Star City. Our results are usually excellent, so we weren't worried about losing face. However, due to the unanimous opposition from the other high schools, Star City High eventually stopped hosting the event."

  "Opposition from other schools? Why?" Fly interjected.

  "Because they felt it was unfair," Dean Sterling explained. "They argued that Star City High's strength was already formidable enough. If we were also given the home-field advantage, the gap would be simply too large for anyone else."

  "Oh." Fly nodded thoughtfully.

  "Fly, sometimes I feel like you're a caveman," Genevieve couldn't help but tease from the side.

  Although this was their first time participating, the Freshman Invitational was practically the flagship event for Star City's high school circle. Every year, all sectors of society would focus their attention on this competition, eager to see which high school had recruited a new genius, or which prodigy had emerged.

  And this Fly fellow knew absolutely nothing about the procedures or history of such a famous event.

  He was clearly a top student, so how could he be such a clueless nerd?

  "Well," Fly shrugged, "I spend all my time training, so naturally, I don't pay much attention to these things."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  He had only transmigrated to this world a month ago. In that month, he had managed to get a basic grasp of matters related to Beast Warrior cultivation and get accepted into Star City High. That was already quite an achievement. How could he have had the spare time to learn about anything else?

  Besides, were these minor details really worth inquiring about?

  Whatever the school arranged, he just had to go along with it, right?

  Seeing Fly's "it's-only-natural" expression, Genevieve pressed a hand to her forehead and gently shook her head.

  Just then, Dean Sterling knocked on the door of Class Five, calling 'Emperor' Valerius out of his classroom.

  "Good day, Dean Sterling."

  Valerius emerged, dressed in a custom-tailored dress shirt and a bright red blazer, worn open. The loose-fitting garment perfectly concealed his injured right arm, giving him an air of casual elegance.

  "Fly. And Genevieve."

  If his greeting to Fly was relatively neutral, his tone when addressing Genevieve was noticeably colder.

  "Hm. Hello," Genevieve replied, her own tone lukewarm.

  Dean Sterling looked at the two of them and shook his head helplessly. It was understandable, really.

  For all three years of middle school, Genevieve had been the undisputed number one. But after entering Star City High, she found herself being overshadowed by 'Emperor' Valerius at every turn.

  While Genevieve wasn't as overtly arrogant as Valerius, exceptionally talented children always have a strong sense of pride. It was only natural for her to feel some animosity towards him.

  Conversely, Genevieve's own powerful performance in the Power Assessment Test had triggered Valerius's sense of crisis. Although her final score placed her third, behind him, the actual gap in their strength wasn't that large. Thus, Valerius also saw her as a potential rival.

  Looking at the tension between them, Dean Sterling didn't say anything, just shook his head again.

  After that, the Dean took the group to Class Six, called Jett out, and then left the teaching building, driving them all to the Star City Stadium.

  However, what Fly hadn't expected was...

  When he'd heard the Dean say the competition wasn't held at the school and that students weren't organized to watch, he had assumed the Freshman Invitational would be a small-scale affair. He had pictured an audience consisting of just the city leaders and the principals of the participating high schools.

  But who could have known...

  The entire stadium was massive, at least the size of four football fields combined, and the stands were packed, layer upon layer, with people.

  "Vic, are you sure this arrangement helps the losers save face?" Fly couldn't help but ask sarcastically.

  With this many spectators, and this many media reporters on the sidelines, it was way more humiliating for the losers!

  "Well... it's still better than having your own classmates watch your school's team get beaten repeatedly, right?"

  Dean Sterling gave a dry cough, explaining awkwardly.

  "And besides, this arrangement generates a significant amount of revenue. The city government and the various school boards are quite satisfied with it."

  "Revenue?"

  Fly immediately seized upon the key word in that sentence.

  It made sense. If they only invited their own students to watch, could they sell tickets and charge money? Even if they could, how much could they possibly charge? If they set the ticket price at five hundred or a thousand credits, the students and their parents would probably unite and file complaints.

  Fly could already picture the faces of the outraged protestors.

  But if they sold tickets to the general public?

  Well, that was a different story. Buying a ticket to watch a match was a voluntary transaction. There was no forced purchase.

  "It seems, Mr. Fly, that while you're incredibly strong, you're a complete novice when it comes to how the world works," Jett spoke up from the side.

  Ever since being technically defeated by Fly on the first day, Jett already saw him in a different light. And after witnessing Fly's "inhuman" performance during the Power Assessment Test, he had been deeply shaken, but that shock had also given way to a strong sense of admiration.

  "The official ticket prices for this Freshman Invitational are two thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand credits!"

  "And that's just the official price," Jett continued.

  "In reality, the tickets for the Freshman Invitational are sold out instantly. You can't buy them even if you have the money. Those two-thousand-credit tickets? On the reseller market, they're being scalped for over nine thousand!"

  "Look, right up there," Jett said, pointing to a section of the stands.

  Fly followed his finger and saw it was the highest, most distant part of the stadium.

  From that far away, the spectators looked as small as ants. It was obvious that from such a distance, you couldn't see any of the details of the matches on the field.

  But the event organizers had "thoughtfully" arranged a companion service for this section—renting binoculars.

  Inside the stadium, a normal pair of binoculars was being sold for a thousand credits.

  Fly cursed inwardly.

  Nine thousand for the ticket, one thousand for the binoculars... that meant those spectators were spending a total of ten thousand credits just to watch this competition!

  That was almost the price of a Grade-Two Aqua-Marrow Cleansing Pill!

  And the key thing was, from that distance, even with binoculars, it couldn't be a comfortable viewing experience.

  They were literally paying for the privilege of suffering.

  "Is this competition really that popular?" Fly had to ask.

  "Of course it is. The Freshman Invitational is the best stage to see Star City's genius Beast Warriors, and it only happens once a year. There are even Beast Warriors from neighboring cities who come to watch and scout the talent."